Fox reporter confronts State Department on Iran denial

12/2/13 5:44 PM EST

Fox News Chief Washington Correspondent James Rosen visited the State Department briefing room Monday to challenge what he suggested were false denials the department issued about high-level talks between Iran and the United States.

With current State Department spokesperson Jen Psaki at the podium, Rosen read from a question he asked then-spokesperson Victoria Nuland in February about reports of "direct, secret bilateral talks with Iran."

"With regard to the kind of thing you're talking about on a government-to-government level: no," Nuland replied.

Rosen pointed Monday to reports that senior U.S. officials, including Deputy Secretary of State Bill Burns and then-Director of Policy Planning Jake Sullivan, held a series of meetings in Oman in recent years with top Iranian officials.

"The question today is a simply one: when the briefer was asked about those talks and flatly denied them, that was untrue, correct?" Rosen asked.

In response, Psaki noted that the State Department recently confirmed such a meeting took place in March of this year—after the denial in question. However, she did not deny reports that the meetings stretched back to 2011.

"You're talking about a February briefing, so ten months ago. I don't think we've outlined or confirmed contacts or specifics beyond a March meeting. I'm not going to confirm or outline others beyond that at this point," Psaki said.

Rosen then asked Psaki if she would "stand by the accuracy" of Nuland's denial.

"James, I have no new information for you today," Psaki replied.

Rosen followed up further by asking if it is "the policy of the State Department to lie in order" to maintain the secrecy of negotiations.

"There are times when diplomacy needs privacy in order to progress. This is a good example of that," Psaki said.

Psaki also said the U.S.-Iran talks "really picked up after [Iranian] President Rouhani's election" in June of this year, but she acknowledged she was not answering the question about when those talks began. U.S. officials have said the high-level back-channel was important to the interim nuclear deal reached in Geneva last month. However, the discussions have been controversial, in part because Israel was reportedly kept in the dark about the talks until September of this year.

Rosen pressed Psaki on the thinking of State Department briefers on whether it would be appropriate to mislead reporters about matters such as sensitive diplomatic negotiations.